Wednesday, August 25, 2010

"Mosque" at Ground Zero...and Ultrarunning

May as well weigh in. I’ve had it with all this hand-wringing. People in the U.S. are guaranteed freedom of religion by the Constitution of the United States.
Tough sh*t if you’re offended by a Muslim cultural center 2 blocks from the site of the World Trade Centers.

Turns out the ground is not so sacred after all. Here's an example; see this for more photos of the area.

Daryl Lang writes:

What’s my point? A month ago, I wrote about my support for a group of Muslim New Yorkers—whom I consider my neighbors—and their right to put a religious building on a piece of private property in Lower Manhattan. Since then, the debate over the Park51 community center, inaccurately nicknamed the “Ground Zero Mosque,” has jumped from talk radio to mainstream conversation, and turned nasty in the process. Sarah Palin wrote that, “it would be an intolerable and tragic mistake to allow such a project sponsored by such an individual to go forward on such hallowed ground.”

Look at the photos. This neighborhood is not hallowed. The people who live and work here are not obsessed with 9/11. The blocks around Ground Zero are like every other hard-working neighborhood in New York, where Muslims are just another thread of the city fabric.

At this point the only argument against this project is fear, specifically fear of Muslims, and that’s a bigoted, cowardly and completely indefensible position.

If that’s not enough, how about an official Muslim prayer service inside the Pentagon. (this link uses much more "colorful" language than I do!)

Yes, Muslims have infiltrated the Pentagon for their nefarious, prayerful purposes -- daring to practice their religion inside the building where 184 people died on Sept. 11, 2001. They haven't even had the sensitivity to move two blocks, let alone a mile, away from that sacred site.

Give it a rest. Can't you see that the freedom of others is inexorably linked to our own?

Oh, and the link to Ultrarunning? I've said before that we seem by and large to be a more laid-back, accommodating and inclusive group than Joe Public. I can't imagine that in an all-nighter on the trails that a Muslim and a Christian ultrarunner would not find a common ground of spirituality.